1985 Johnson Problems when in gear

"Hello -

I have a 1985 70h

"Hello -

I have a 1985 70hp Johnson that seems like it wants to run and it does but you really have to mess with it for it to get going. The main problem I have is, I can get it started pretty easy - I give it full throttle in neutral and it fires. BUT as soon as I put it in gear(forward or reverse) it will kill.

So ways that I have got it going would be once I got it started and let it run for a while so it runs at idle and then once I put is in gear I have to pump the throttle back and forth a few time and then it finally starts to take and is able to move however it barely wants to move and it I try to give it more gas it will die. Eventually once it is pokin' around for a bit you can give it some more gas and it will take off. but it's a hassle and seems like something that could be easily fixed.

My guess is that there is something not right with the fuel to air ratio. Like it's not getting enough of one or the other, which means it could be something with the carb. I'm not quite sure. Anyone have any suggestions? I know of the adjustment screws on the carb but I'm not sure if I should start messing with those first or maybe there might be a simple solution. any info or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!"

"Sounds like its time to rebui

"Sounds like its time to rebuild the carbs. They need to be removed, disassembled and throughly cleaned."

"WOW! I just looked at my post

"WOW! I just looked at my post, I explained my problem like a 2 year old. I can tell I was in a hurry to type it.

Yeah I was kind of thinking that a carb rebuild would be inorder. I know that I would need to get a carb kit with the gaskets and what not. Anything else I might need? Thanks for the reply too by the way."

A repair manual is a good inve

A repair manual is a good investment. Carb cleaner and a pan to use for cleaning the carbs and little parts.